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mercury

merc·ury/ˈmɝ.kjə.ɹi/noun, verb

mercury is spelled M-E-R-C-U-R-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables (merc·ury). It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mercury means “A silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element with the atomic number 80; it is liquid at room temperature, and toxic” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mercury is mercuries.

How many letters and syllables are in mercury?

Letters7: M-E-R-C-U-R-Y
Syllables2: merc·ury
In writing10 times per million words; the 6,884th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is mercury?

Mercury appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce mercury?

  • UK /ˈmɜːkjʊ.ɹi/
  • US /ˈmɝ.kjə.ɹi/
  • US /ˈmɝ.kɹi/

Mercury has 2 syllables, split merc·ury in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Tesco250-mercury.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-mercury.wav, En-us-mercury.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of mercury

  • mercuries plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mercurie
  • mercurying participle, present
  • mercuried participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does mercury mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element with the atomic number 80; it is liquid at room temperature, and toxic.

  2. 2

    Preceded by the: mercury (noun sense 1) as used in the column of a barometer or thermometer, its fall or rise thus indicating the decrease or increase of ambient pressure or temperature.

    The mercury there has averaged 37.6°C, 2.3°C above the February norm.

  3. 3

    A preparation containing mercury (noun sense 1), especially calomel (mercurous chloride) or corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride), formerly used as a medicine to treat syphilis, etc.

  4. 4

    One of the elemental principles formerly thought to be present in all metals.

  5. 5

    obsoleteLiveliness, volatility.

  6. 6

    An annual plant, now generally called annual mercury (Mercurialis annua), chiefly native to central and southern Europe which was formerly grown for its medicinal properties; French mercury, herb mercury.

  7. 7

    Any of several plants of the genus Mercurialis; specifically (obsolete), dog's mercury or wild mercury (Mercurialis perennis).

  8. 8

    Allgood or Good King Henry (Blitum bonus-henricus), a species of goosefoot native to central and southern Europe formerly cultivated as a vegetable but now generally regarded as a weed; English mercury, false mercury (obsolete).

verb

  1. 1

    To apply or coat (something) with mercury (noun sense 1) or a preparation containing mercury.

  2. 2

    obsoleterareto apply to (the face) a preparation of mercury to beautify it

  3. 3

    To administer to (someone) a medicine containing mercury.

noun

as Mercury
  1. 1

    obsoleteQuicksilver, mercury. (No longer capitalized, as the name of the metal is no longer recognized as that of the planet.)

  2. 2

    archaicA newsboy, a messenger.

  3. 3

    archaicA footman.

  4. 4

    archaicSomeone who carries messages between lovers; a go-between.

  5. 5

    archaicA newspaper.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Mercury in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmercure, vif-argent (silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element…), le mercure (mercury as used in the column of a barometer or…)
GermanQuecksilber (silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element…), Bingelkraut (any of several plants of the genus Mercurialis)
Portuguesemercúrio, azougue (silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element…)
Spanishmercurio, azogue, hidrargirio (silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element…), mercurial, malcoraje (any of several plants of the genus Mercurialis)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

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